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Current Environment Production

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Jekyll v3.10.0
Last Build Aug 01, 19:35
Repository
bamr87/zer0-mistakes
Changelog Docs Jekyll
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Configuration Theme Customizer Navigation Editor Environment Dashboard
Page Location
Page Info
Layout default
Collection docs
Path _docs/front-matter.md
URL /docs/front-matter/
Date 2026-08-01
Source Code
View on GitHub Edit in GitHub.dev
Configuration
Site Config _config.yml

Front Matter

How to use front matter for Jekyll pages, posts, and collections.

Estimated reading time: 10 minutes

Improve Edit on GitHub

Front Matter

Front matter is YAML metadata at the top of Markdown or HTML files that controls how Jekyll processes the content.

Basic Structure

---
title: "My Page Title"
layout: default
permalink: /my-page/
---

Your content starts here...

Required Fields

For All Pages

---
title: "Page Title"      # Required: Displayed in browser tab and headings
layout: default          # Required: Template to use from _layouts/
---

For Blog Posts

---
title: "Post Title"
layout: article
date: 2025-01-15         # Required for posts: Publication date
---

Common Optional Fields

SEO & Metadata

---
description: "A brief description for search engines (150-160 chars)"
author: "Your Name"
lastmod: 2026-06-14T00:00:00.000Z
keywords:
  primary: ["keyword1", "keyword2"]
  secondary: ["keyword3"]
---

Organization

---
categories:
    - category1
    - subcategory
tags:
    - tag1
    - tag2
    - tag3
permalink: /custom-url/   # Override default URL
---

Display Options

---
preview: /images/previews/front-matter.png
toc: true                       # Show table of contents
comments: true                  # Enable comments (if configured)
sidebar:
    nav: docs                   # Use 'docs' navigation in sidebar
---

Layout Options

Available layouts in Zer0-Mistakes:

Layout Purpose
default Standard page with sidebar
journals Blog posts with metadata display
home Homepage layout
collection Collection index pages
landing Full-width landing pages

Collection-Specific Fields

Documentation (_docs)

---
difficulty: beginner          # beginner, intermediate, advanced
estimated_reading_time: "10 minutes"
prerequisites:
    - Docker installed
    - Basic Jekyll knowledge
lastmod: 2026-06-14T00:00:00.000Z
---

Blog Posts (_posts)

---
excerpt: "Custom excerpt for listings"
preview: /images/previews/front-matter.png
featured: true               # Feature on homepage
---

Control which navigation appears in the sidebar:

---
sidebar:
    nav: docs      # Uses _data/navigation/docs.yml
---

Available navigation files:

  • main - Primary site navigation
  • docs - Documentation sidebar
  • quickstart - Quick start guide

Examples

Complete Documentation Page

---
title: "Installation Guide"
description: "Step-by-step installation instructions"
layout: default
categories:
    - docs
    - setup
tags:
    - installation
    - docker
permalink: /docs/installation/
difficulty: beginner
estimated_reading_time: "10 minutes"
prerequisites:
    - Docker Desktop
lastmod: 2026-06-14T00:00:00.000Z
sidebar:
    nav: docs
---

Complete Blog Post

---
title: "Getting Started with Jekyll"
description: "Learn the basics of Jekyll static site generation"
layout: article
date: 2025-01-15
lastmod: 2026-06-14T00:00:00.000Z
author: "Amr"
categories:
    - tutorials
    - jekyll
tags:
    - jekyll
    - getting-started
preview: /images/previews/front-matter.png
comments: true
---

See also

  • [[Jekyll]]
  • [[Liquid]]
  • [[SEO]]
  • [[Customization]]